‘Woman’s faith and woman’s trust, Write the characters in dust.’
—Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)
This striking illustration, created by John Philip Falter for one of his more than 300 recruiting posters during World War II, was derived from a Navy photograph taken in 1943 of WAVE Virginia L. Scott. She is operating a radiotelegraph key sending a message from the code room of the Radio School at Madison, Wisconsin. Falter (1910–1982) enlisted in the Navy, but was quickly promoted and continued his work that in civilian life eventually garnered him 129 covers of The Saturday Evening Post along with numerous illustrations in publications including McCall’s, LIFE, Look, Good Housekeeping, and Cosmopolitan.
This and other photographs and artwork are available as prints through the Naval Institute Photo Archive. You may place orders or leave messages 24 hours a day at 1-800-233-8764, contact [email protected], or visit our website, www.usni.org.